Friars Walk

Friars Walk is a major new shopping and leisure scheme that will transform the John Frost Square area and revitalise the city centre offering more than 36,230 square metres of retail and leisure space including a department store, multiplex, shops, restaurants, car park and bus station.

Timescale

Major shopping schemes can take a number of years to get off the ground but this latest scheme will be in place in a fraction of the time.

Queensberry Real Estate officially came on board in October 2011 and since then the project has moved at pace.

Demolition of John Frost Square began at the end of 2013 and climaxed with the controlled explosion which brought down Capitol car park. Construction officially began the first week of April 2014 and following swift progress, a topping out ceremony was held on 11 December.

The anticipated completion date is autumn 2015.

As a planned part of Queensberry’s development of the Friars Walk Scheme an archaeological investigation was carried out to locate any historic buildings on the site. Remains were found exactly where expected and, working with experts, have been recorded and protected.

Key facts

Queensberry Real Estate’s team created the impressive SouthGate centre in Bath and Victoria Square in Belfast

A department store, five major stores, 30 new shops, a convenience food store, a new restaurant quarter with seven family eateries and a multiplex cinema will add to the vibrancy of the city centre

Friars Walk will have an estimated catchment of 411,000, double the existing levels, and spend per capita is expected to be the highest in Wales on completion

The scheme is currently 60% let and Friars Walk is set to be one of the most significant retail openings in the UK in 2015

Public transport or car? A modern 400 space car park and a new bus station will cater for both

Friars Walk will be designed to encourage shoppers to flow into Commercial Street and the other surrounding retail areas

A new square will link Friars Walk to the riverfront, the arts quarter, the University of South Wales and the iconic footbridge

In December 2013, the council agreed to lend Queensberry Real Estate £90 million in a commercial deal to ensure the development could be delivered on time